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As of Friday, 11,180 Beaufort County residents — 23.7% of the county’s population — had been at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19. Of those individuals, 7,215 had completed their vaccine series, which is two doses for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines and one dose for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

For the week of March 9-15, Beaufort County providers are expecting to receive approximately 1,100 first doses of the Moderna vaccine. The Beaufort County Health Department uses Moderna at its public vaccination clinics, but some pharmacies and local clinics are offering Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson doses as well.

The health department is encouraging people to utilize whichever vaccination opportunity works best for them, and is also asking them to cancel any preexisting appointments they’ve scheduled with the health department if they sign up for a vaccine with a different provider.

Everyone in Groups 1-3 of the state’s vaccination plan is currently eligible to receive a vaccine. Gov. Roy Cooper announced Thursday that certain members of Group 4 — individuals ages 16-64 with one or more high-risk medical conditions for severe disease from COVID-19, and people who live in certain congregate settings — will become eligible March 17. Additional members of Group 4 will become eligible April 7. A complete breakdown of each group can be found online at ncdhhs.gov.

“We are very fortunate to now have three tested, safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines that keep people out of the hospital and prevent death from this virus,” N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen said. “With improving supplies, North Carolina can get more people vaccinated sooner and meet our goals to provide equitable access to vaccinations in every community in the state.”

To make an appointment with the health department, call 252-940-6150 or visit https://bit.ly/30AgTXU.

COVID-19 METRICS

Beaufort County reported five new confirmed COVID-19 cases Friday, raising its total cases to 4,304.  The county also reported that 16 more individuals had recovered rom COVID-19, bringing the total amount of recoveries to 4,156. Health officials know of 66 active cases among county residents, and one of those individuals is hospitalized.

Beaufort County has recorded 82 COVID-19-related deaths, which is 1.9% of the total cases. Residents of long-term care facilities have accounted for 40 of those deaths.

Eastern N.C. counties with total confirmed cases include: Bertie, (1,679), Beaufort (4,299), Bladen (3,020), Brunswick (8,243), Carteret (4,549), Camden (605), Chowan (1,389), Columbus (5,979), Craven (8,551), Currituck (1,411), Dare (1,887), Duplin (5,819), Edgecombe (4,786), Gates (687), Greene (2,151), Halifax (5,059), Hertford (1,970),  Hyde (629), Jones (752), Lenoir (5,544), Martin (2,098), New Hanover (16,703), Northampton (1,751), Onslow (15,007), Pamlico (984), Pasquotank (3,122), Pender  (4,846), Perquimans (935), Pitt (17,824) Sampson (7,036), Tyrrell (305) Washington (1,005), Wayne (10,388) and Wilson (8,653). Mecklenburg (98,869), Wake (76,660), Guilford (40,936) counties have the most cases.